The Quad City Ice Eagle Bantam travel team moved another
giant step toward its first CIHL championship when it defeated the Springfield
Kings by a score of 4-1 in the conference game played today at the QCSC.The Ice Eagles also won the non-conference
game, coming from behind to post a 5-4 win.The Eagles now have swept Pekin, Champaign and split two games with
Springfield, and hold a 1-0 edge over both Decatur and Peoria for a 7-1 league
record, with single games to play against Decatur (home) and Peoria (away).

In the non-conference game, Springfield scored first on a
goal by Schmitz, but the Eagles tied it four minutes later on an unassisted
goal by Ryne Takacs.Takacs took the
puck in his own zone and unloaded a high slap shot from just inside the blue
line that went over the goalie’s shoulder.The goal came on QC’s first shot of the game.Three minutes later, Josh Moon finished off a nice scoring play,
pouncing on a rebound of Justin Welsh’s shot.Tom Parkinson also collected an assist.But Springfield tied the game a minute later, and the first period ended
2-2.

Justin Welsh gave the Eagles a 3-2 lead when he scored with
8:39 left in the second, assisted by Moon and Robbie Jacobsen, but less than a
minute later, Springfield’s Pero tied the game at three.When Tom Parkinson was called for
interference late in the second, it took Springfield just nine second to score
and take a 4-3 lead into the second intermission.

Justin Welsh scored his second of the game with 8:25 left to
bring the Eagles back into a tie, with Parkinson and Takacs getting the
assists.Three minutes later, Josh Moon
picked up a pass from Jason Corcoran in the neutral zone and went in alone to
notch the gamewinner, with Quad Cities hanging on for a 5-4 win.Brandon Kruse kicked out 13 of 17
Springfield shots to earn the victory in the Eagles’ goal.

The first game was relatively clean with just seven minor
penalties called, three on the Eagles.This was a marked departure from the game played in November in
Springfield when the Kings played their usual chippy style.But they would revert to form in the league
contest in a game that got uglier and uglier as it went on.

Justin Welsh again got the Eagles off and running when he
opened the scored at the 9:01 mark, assisted by Ryne Takacs.In the first two periods, the Eagles enjoyed
a 4-0 edge in power play opportunities as the Kings continued to play their
style, with frequent elbows, slashes and roughing.John Carr increased the lead to 2-0 at the 3:25 mark of the
second period, assisted by Welsh.The
Eagles made it 3-0 with 2:33 left in the second when Jack Hasselbusch scored
from in close, assisted by Moon and Busch.

Springfield started to put increasing pressure on Goalie
Brandon Morgan in the final period, and it finally paid off with just under
seven minutes to play, when Pero scored his second of the day to make the score
3-1.But Jack Hasselbusch scored his
second of the game to rebuild the lead to 4-1, putting the game out of reach, and
further igniting the frustration of the undisciplined Springfield players.As the clock wound down, Springfield’s
Schmitz and Reeves both went after Ryne Takacs with sticks high.

Coach Moon was able to gather his players together to avoid
any retaliation, but he pointedly told the Springfield coach to “get his goons
out of our building.”Once again
Springfield lived down to its reputation as the dirtiest team on the
schedule.But the win puts the Eagles
squarely in the driver’s seat in the quest for the league championship.The Eagles now have a 7-game winning streak,
and have improved their CIHL record to 7-1, with an overall mark of
27-8-1.The Eagles return to action
next Saturday morning with two games against Decatur.